Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations dismissed as “unbelievable” what he said was President Donald Trump’s call for cooperation given Washington was imposing sanctions on Tehran, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, in what appeared to be Iran’s first official reaction to Trump’s address after an Iranian missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US troops, was quoted as saying Washington had “initiated a new series of escalation and animosity with Iran” by killing an Iranian general on Jan. 3.
The United States told the United Nations on Wednesday that the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani last week was self-defense and vowed to take additional action “as necessary” in the Middle East to protect US personnel and interests.
Iran retaliated on Wednesday for Soleimani’s death by firing missiles at military facilities housing US troops in Iraq. US President Donald Trump said no Americans were hurt, soothing fears that Soleimani’s death and the Iranian response could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Kelly Craft said the United States also stands “ready to engage without preconditions in serious negotiations with Iran, with the goal of preventing further endangerment of international peace and security or escalation by the Iranian regime.”
The killing of Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday was justified under Article 51 of the UN Charter, wrote Craft in the letter seen by Reuters, adding “the United States is prepared to take additional actions in the region as necessary to continue to protect US personnel and interests.”
Under Article 51, countries are required to “immediately report” to the 15-member Security Council any measures taken in exercising the right of self-defense. The United States used Article 51 to justify taking action in Syria against Islamic State militants in 2014.
Craft said Soleimani’s death and US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Dec. 29 against an Iran-backed militia group were “in response to an escalating series of armed attacks in recent months by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran-supported militias on US forces and interests in the Middle East.”
She said the aim was to deter Iran from conducting or supporting attacks and degrade its ability to conduct attacks.
Iran also justified its action under Article 51 of the UN Charter in a letter to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Ravanchi wrote that Tehran “does not seek escalation or war” after exercising its right to self-defense by taking a “measured and proportionate military response targeting an American airbase in Iraq.”
“The operation was precise and targeted military objectives thus leaving no collateral damage to civilians and civilian assets in the area,” Ravanchi wrote.
“Seriously warning about any further military adventurism against it, Iran declares that it is determined to continue to, vigorously and in accordance with applicable international law, defend its people, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity against any aggression,” he said.
In a related development, a senior Iranian commander said Iran’s missile attacks on US targets in Iraq did not aim to kill American soldiers but sought to damage Washington’s “military machine” and were the start of a series of attacks across the region, state television reported.
Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, also said the “appropriate revenge” for the US killing of Soleimani was to expel US forces from the Middle East, state TV said.
He also said Iran had hundreds of missiles at the ready and when Tehran launched missiles on Wednesday it had used “cyberattacks to disable (US) plane and drone navigation systems.”
